Opinion: In blocking content its government deemed offensive, Pakistan Telecom used an especially egregious form of Internet abuse.A recent Newsweek cover story called Pakistan "the most dangerous country in the world." The writers don't even know the half of it.

A few days ago, YouTube's service was interrupted for a couple of hours over a political issue in Pakistan. Someone in the government was offended by a video on YouTube. They issued an order to Pakistan Telecom to remove Internet access to a specific YouTube video. That video is now offline from anywhere, for violating terms of use according to YouTube. (That fact could be another column; I heard it was another one of these Danish cartoon things, but back to the technical issues …)

I'm guessing that ISPs in Pakistan have to peer with Pakistan Telecom; lots of countries work that way. You can see their peering list (at least a very recent one) here. So it's definitely a point at which one could control the country's Internet access, although this sort of ISP function doesn't have a handy "block this URL" function.. . . . . .

This article while technical in nature shows just how fragile some facets of the Internet are. The potential for abuse at the top of the food chain is especially chilling. Net neutrality is no minor issue.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

This article while technical in nature shows just how fragile some facets of the Internet are. The potential for abuse at the top of the food chain is especially chilling. Net neutrality is no minor issue.

We have been on this tightrope for a long time now. I, for one, do not take net neutrality lightly. The Rs are hammering away to put the net into 'private hands'.